The Basics of Letterhead Design

Just like your logo, your letterheads are part and parcel of your brand identity. Hence, your letterhead printing should be the epitome of the right message to the right target market.

Often, your letterheads lack the convincing power to gain your target clients' attention. It takes careful planning and well thought of design to get your target clients to see your letterhead printing, and the message it wants to convey. When you have a strong letterhead printing design, your marketing campaign, no matter the media tool you use, would be the better for it.

1- LEGIBILITY

What elements can you see in your letterhead? Can you read the words found in your letterhead? Are some of the elements invisible when you stand across the room? If it is then your letterhead printing run the risk of being illegible. This means that your letterheads have less impact because your target clients can't read them.

This is how you can test whether your letterhead is legible - if you can't read it from across the room then your target clients won't be able to so as well.

2- SIMPLICITY

It is very often that your letterhead will be read in passing. It's as if scanning your letterhead is an afterthought. So what elements will stick to your target clients' memory?

Remember that your target customers are inundated by too many information on a daily basis. This means that they don't have time to read and decipher your letterhead design. If it looks something like an ancient script, or something that resembles a long lost and forgotten encryption, then you might as well forget it because your target clients will definitely not take the time to decode it.

Less is more. If you don't want to overwhelm your readers with too many elaborate details go for simplicity in your design. The less you strain your target clients' eyes, the more likely that they will remember your print letterheads.

3- USABILITY

It may look beautiful, but if your letterhead design doesn't have any function at all in the overall scheme of your collateral, then it's worth nothing. In addition, remember to always have letterhead design that encompasses the media it's applied to. Whether it's silk screened or printed on white paper, your design should be reproduced successfully in all types of material.

4- UNAMBIGUITY

Always remember that a symbol my mean one thing to you but another thing to other people. A seemingly innocent image can provide a completely different idea to another nationality or culture. In order for you to cross borders, you need to consider the differing views and beliefs that your target clients have.

Just remember these four basic ideas when designing your letterhead and you'll never go wrong

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